>> reporter: good morning. i'm christie smith live in oakland. all of this rain is sparking new concerns about with landslides. we're live in oakland. we'll have the story in a live report. >> we are also checking the rain for radiation. we have official test results and new elevated levels of radiation in japan overnight. a live look outside this morning. it's wednesday, march 23rd. this is "today in the east bay."

good morning everyone. i'm scott mcgrew. it's 4:30. let's start with a rainy forecast and meteorologist christina loren, look at all that. >> i'm not even going to step on screen. i want to point out just how bad it is out there. if you've not been outside for the past few hours i can tell you right now we've got a lot of trouble out there this morning. a lot of ponding, flooding, and take a look at all of that yellow. right now over the north bay pushing toward the east bay. that's going to arrive in your area in the next half hour or hour. we'll tell you what that means for the morning drive and tell you when it's expected to clear up. first another storm as we head through tomorrow, clearing though in the forecast. we'll talk about that all morning long. >> thank you much. all eyes on a major rock slide near scotts valley as falling rain raises fear of another slide. incredible video shot yesterday shows how quickly the rocks and trees came down on nelson road

monday. santa cruz county officials held a meeting with neighbors, warned it could be weeks before the road is cleared. the expected rainfall may cause the hill to slide more. >> it can make it worse, definitely. we have to keep an eye on this situation and it might delay our start of fixing the site. >> engineers will be back today trying to figure out how to clear it. for now neighbors are using a muddy side road on private property to get to and from homes. more than 25 homes are isolated on the other side of the slide with nelson trood only major street in and out of the area. now, the ground is already saturated, there is more rain on the way. other bay area hillsides could be in jeopardy of land slide as well. christie smith is live in oakland with a vulnerable area. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, scott. this is the type of thing that happens when you get wave after

wave of rain. we're on the top of park boulevard near highway 13. and i want to show you what happened here over the weekend when a hillside gave way. there's a couple of huge boulders in one lane and also at the top of the hill, if steve can pan over, there is a church up there. certainly officials there are keeping a close eye on it. also the public works department in oakland. they have got one lane shut down. now, this is the type of thing that goes on across the bay area when we get this sort of rain. geologists with all of the rain we've got than basically this soil is near 90% saturated. we've got two more rounds of storms on the way, and there are monitoring devices up in steep slopes around bay area which certainly indicate cause for concern. certain areas in the bay area as we know, more prone to slides, like coastal areas in san mateo

county, hills in alameda county, hills in santa clara county and also the santa cruz mountains. certainly something to keep in mind as you head out this morning here on park boulevard. the road is still open but one lane is shut down. reporting live in oakland, christie smith, "today in the east bay." >> thank you. stay safe out there. after days of waiting and days of testing, at a uc-berkeley lab we know whether radiation from japan is in the rain falling across the bay area right now. cheryl hurd joins us from berkeley with those results. >> reporter: rain here in the bay area is raising concerns. some people worry japan's nuclear disaster will mean that radiation levels here will increase to unhealthy levels. >> i have a feeling it's going to increase. it's not going to be pretty. but hopefully it's not too dangerous. >> reporter: measurements are in progress right now in a lab at

uc-berkeley's campus. >> as of last wednesday we started to collect air samples, and as of friday, saturday, we started to also collect rain. >> reporter: around the clock analysis shows a definite increase in radiation levels in water and air. but -- >> we should not be concerned. the amount of radiation we are observing here from japan is extremely small and should not cause any problem, any concern for us and our health. >> reporter: he says the testing is important because it helps nuclear engineers understand radiation and also helps calm the fears of the public. >> these are so sensitive and the signals we're looking for so weak that we have to shield the detector from the background radiation. >> reporter: that's shielding with the lead bricks you see. the professor shows us the spike found on the computer. >> we have to drink 500 liter of the rain water to get the same which is comparable to a chest

x-ray as well. >> that was cheryl hurd reporting. japan is dealing with new radiation worries. the tokyo water bureau says the level of radioactive iodine in some city tap water is twice the recommended limit for infants. they say it's not a health risk for adults. meantime, u.s. leaders are taking action and banning some japanese imports. the fda halted all imports of dairy and produce from northeast japan. higher levels of radiation were detected in those products. >> at the troubled fukushima plant black smoke billowed up from a unit, prompting new evacuations. the cause of the smoke not known yet. power lines have finally been connected to all six reactor units, but the electricity will not be turned on until all of the equipment has been checked for damage. 9300 people confirmed dead, 14,000 missing as survivors

continue to deal with the after shocks. here in the bay area, santa cruz harbor, opened after the tsunami surge destroyed or damaged more than 100 boats and much of the harbor. the search is on for a person who shot two men and a dog in oakland. it happened on harmon street. police say the shots were fired from across the street and no suspect description is available. this morning, students returning to berkeley high may feel uneasy, too. gun related incidents causing concerns. the first happened in a portable building, two students allegedly fired handgun inside a school bathroom. the weapon was dumped a few blocks away. no one hurt. the second incident involved an anonymous tip that a student was carrying a gun, school security detained a suspect before police arrived. the government's first

witness in the barry bonds perjury trial will face cross-examination later this morning. federal agent jeff nowitsk yirks will be questioned in a courtroom. he exposed the balco scandal. ruby will try to raise doubts about the agent's motives and methods, say experts. another government witness who is a former business partner with bonds will also face cross-examination. yesterday, bonds' personal trainer greg anderson refused to answer questions and was sent to prison again for contempt of court. also this morning, the trial of two men accused of killing an oakland journalist resumes. former black muslim bakery and antoine maki are on the death for chauncey bailey and two other men back in 2007. prosecutors say bay ordered the murders in order to benefit the

bakery. >> a bomb threat to a plane bound for sfo turned out to be a hoax. san francisco police gave the all clear around midnight. the threat came yesterday afternoon as the plane was flying to sfo from the philippines. when it landed at 7:20 it was taken to a remote part of the airport. the 337 passengers and 20 crew members were taken off the plane. bomb sniffing dogs investigated the luggage but found nothing and people got their luggage around 1:00 this morning. christina loren has a map that explains everything. good morning, christina. >> good morning to you. yes, i have actually a perfect classic. take a look at this. i don't have to say much. we have a classic low-pressure system. you see the counterclockwise rotation. when i step out of the way you can see how well developed this system is. it's a slow mover, it's dumping rain. especially at the coastline this

morning. it looks like it's going to continue down the coast as we head throughout day today so let's zoom in and show you just how much rain is moving in right now. we have a lot of rain overnight. but we're seeing the bulk of the moisture from the system come through right now. you see how just in the past three hours the yellow starts to come up. heavy to moderate rain over the peninsula, starting to pick up yellow and red in vallejo, richmond and it will continue through the next few hours. that's why we have a flash flood watch in place for the entire coastline. but wherever you head you are likely going to be slowed down because of the rain. and you really want to take it easy out there. we've got a lot of ponding, areas of flooding and just to navigate those for you, mike inouye, how does it look out there? >> well, it's all right so far but we have had like you said a lot of reports of flooding here and there. maybe a lane or two or off ramp. the issue in the north bay, and

the bay actually around bay, the maze approach looks nice. the toll plaza, a live look for the bay bridge. you see there are pretty good puddles there as you approach, though, it's typical in this kind of weather. water hitting the lens. active rainfall so use caution. the approach off of the carquinez bridge is not a problem. 18 minutes here. that rain having just traveled through this area and richmond, a wind advisory for the bay bridge and the richmond/san rafael bridge. the car knee news and benicia bridges, you don't have the wind advisory but gusty on either side and the rain for the north from there heading through fairfield and vallejo, we'll get you a live shot. there you can see the san mateo bridge. to the right side, the sign says high wind advisory and you can see the camera shaking. it's gusty there at the bridge. back to you. >> mike, thank you much. coming up, how safe are you on those bridges? the alarming deficiencies found should a big quake hit.

she shared her opinion now paying the price. a bay area woman who wrote a review on line and lived to regret it when the business fought back. plus, why doctors say you may live longer if you avoid sex. you are looking at a live picture of oakland. it's rainy out there. 3q

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a new study reveals staggering deficiencies in local earthquake preparedness, one in five bay area bridges and overpasses need repair. according to the transportation for america, the federal government has marked several local bridges and overpasses as high priority for monitoring and repair. the washington-based nonprofit found this region has more structurally deficient bridges than the national average. here are the numbers. san francisco has the highest percentage of structurely deficient bridges with 34.5%. alameda and san mateo counties next with 21%, napa county about 15%. a consumer alert this morning on online reviews, sites like yelp and city search make it easy to post opinions about everything from restaurants to beauty salons. what happens when those reviews aren't so good?

some businesses are biting back with consumer gag orders. can they do this? here's today in the east bay's vicki nguyen. >> you want to eat? yeah? >> at 150 pounds, tuna is a lot of dog. who gives and gets a lot of love. >> we adopted tuna from a rescue. >> reporter: when kristin left for a trip to mexico she took her great dane to a cage free facility. >> i was paying them to take care of my dog. >> reporter: she says tuna came back with a nickel sized hole in his shoulder. >> it was an open wound and the skin was peeled back. >> reporter: unhappy with the company's response, she did what millions of people do these days, she posted an online review. >> i gave details and gave my opinions of what happened. i didn't feel like i was being treated honestly. >> reporter: but that wasn't the end of her ordeal. >> i got a call from them threatening to sue me for

slander or libel if i didn't take it down. >> reporter: they sent a letter promising to file legal papers calling her review slanlderrous. >> a quick search turns up plenty of consumers with similar complaints being bullied or intimidated. some businesses are taking it further. they want your signature on a consumer gag order. >> health professionals, retailers, that are asking consumers to wave their right to freedom of speech. >> reporter: an angie's list poll shows one in san francisco admit head asked his customers to sign such waivers. and this online appliance retailer puts in its terms it will pursue libel charges if customers post lies. do you have to sign on the dotted line? >> absolutely say no if you see a contract like this. >> reporter: angie says you are protected when you tell the truth and you have a right to

share your opinion. >> if you say that the paint job was sloppy, that's your opinion. you'll hear companies say you can't say that. well, you do have a right to your opinion. >> i try to be as factual and honest as i can when i write a review. >> she relies on review sites for recommendations and says savvy businesses know how to find the positive in a negative review. >> i'll get a response saying thank you for the review. we didn't realize this was a problem. we're going to work on it and fix it because now we know it is a problem. >> reporter: she edited but never removed her negative review and the company never sued. like most consumers she believes companies that address complaints and apologize are far more effective than any gag order. >> people have an opportunity to better their businesses by paying attention to their consumers. >> especially in this era of instant online feedback. vicki nguyen, nbc bay area news. >> the earthquake and tsunami

damage in japan could reach $309 billion making it the most costly disaster on record. nicole lappen is at world head quarters with a look at the markets this morning. good morning. >> a very good morning to you. futures are lower, of course this is after stocks fell slightly yesterday. of course investors are taking a breather from the three-day rally amid higher oil prices and the unrest in libya as well. so in that situation we're watching crude oil that's above $105 a barrel today. right, looking at the costliest price tag out of japan sent japanese stocks plunging 1.6% so we're watching that closely, also the idea that the united states is the first nation to block some food imports there, so many unanswered questions. markets hate uncertainty. europe in the red. we have data today. new home sales, we look to earnings from general mills.

and a lot of fed speak as well. ben bernanke is speaking to bankers this afternoon. to recap the dow fell 17 points yesterday to 12,018. we were on low volumes. the nasdaq composite lost 8 to 2683. also making headlines out of cnbc, amazon opened the doors of its app store. a lawsuit from apple of course for the word app store. the online store has tons of apps for droid phones. you can use the one click payment options as well. you can test them out before you actually buy them as well. look, amazon is promoting this exclusive version of not only their app store but also a version of the popular game angry birds which is tied to the upcoming movie rio. and research in motion t maker of the blackberry of course is set to mount its own challenge against apple. the company will sell its tablet

called the play book for $499 which is shockingly the same price as the ipad 2. you know this. i want to know what you have, scott? look ahead to the playbook. it's seven inches, smaller than the ipad. are you interested? it connects to your blackberry. >> not at all. i have the ipad 1. the ipad 2 is interesting but $100 for a camera, i can wait. what about you? what you have zbhot >> i have both. >> of course. i also have the ipad 3. it's an early production model. you probably don't have that. >> like i would like to come back in my next life as you. but i'd like to say i have this mobile mullet of sorts where i have business in the front with my blackberry, then party in the back with the iphone and the ipad. >> i'm totally using that. >> we have to be unbiased reporters and anchors and try everything. >> we do.

nicole, thank you very kindly. top that, christina loren. i don't know if anybody mentioned but i'm tired of the rain. so we're done now. >> okay. well, scott mcgrew doesn't like it, let's get rid of it. we're going to but not until next week. the good news is we're going to get through the bulk of the moisture for the first part of the day and a little break before our next round of rain comes in as we head through your thursday. this next storm that we're watching for you is even stronger than the one moving in now. we expect heavier winds, so you really just want to keep advised that we could see dangerous driving conditions this morning, not just this morning, tonight on the way home from work and particularly tomorrow morning as we'll see that next storm move in in time for the morning commute. as promised the heavy showers are pushing into the east bay. you can see this yellow and orange. an indication of moderate rain, concord, get ready for brief heavy downpours in the next five to ten minutes, vallejo, a strong cell pushing toward you. oakland is going to get a break

from the heavy stuff. light rain showers through there. overall we've had rain all night long, so you want to give yourself plenty of time to get to your destination. you'll likely be traveling below the speed limit because it's so wet. we have ponding on the highways. it's a good idea to travel in the center lanes to watch out for all of the overflow from the sides. you can see now, more moisture is going to stream in as we head through the next few hours. we'll get a break later on today. we'll have to wait for this system to push to the south. it's really not moving. we expect it as we head through the next couple of hours to push south that will push the heavy rain into southern california. giving us a break before our next round of rain tonight. we're going to talk more about that and what it's going to mean for the weekend, because we do have a break in store for this weekend as well and we're getting closer to that date. i'm already thinking about it. i know you're thinking about the weekend, scott. looks like it's going to be okay for us. >> coming up, sex and exercise.

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at phoenix.edu. welcome back. livermore 580 wet but moving. also windy out of the altamont pass. moving to the castro valley y, yesterday backups because of an accident. 238 is clear. 880 also clear as far as the accidents go. a live look shows you it is not clear as far as the weather. scott, there it goes, that's the problem, the windy and slippery conditions on the roads.

lower the speeds. you have to. back to you. >> in our health watch, sex kills, kind of. it's been a while since you've exerted yourself in the gym or the bedroom. researchers urge you to proceed at what they call a gradual pace. a new study shows sudden brurs of moderate to intense physical activi activi activity significantly increases the risk of heart attack. you can find the study in the journal of american medical association. 'll have more in a minute. >>

new this morning a bomb scare at sfo overnight. we'll have the latest information next. >> reporter: and courtroom drama unfolds in the barry bonds perjury trial with somebody